Lebanon - Future trends

After nearly 2 decades of civil conflict, Lebanon entered the 21tst
century on a positive note. Most of the country's infrastructure
has been restored, and despite occasional violence, Lebanon's
political system has been fairly stable. The 1989 Ta'if Accords,
which brought an end to the civil war and set the terms for
power-sharing among the various religious groups, has thus far been
successful in creating a functional government in Beirut that is
increasingly spreading its control over the rest of the country.
Parliamentary elections have been held periodically since 1992. After
almost 2 decades of occupation, Israel withdrew its military forces from
southern Lebanon in May 2000.

Despite these positive developments, the government is faced with
serious challenges, mainly lowering the budget deficit by focusing on
tax reform and modernization, expenditure rationalizing, and reducing of
the burden of servicing its debt. The government is also under pressure
from the IMF to proceed with plans to adopt a privatization program of
state-owned enterprises. Having lost its status as a regional banking
and trade center and lacking a solid agricultural and industrial base,
Lebanon must develop alternative plans to define its new role in the
Middle East region. So far, beyond rhetorical official statements, no
steps have been taken in that direction.